Family Portrait
by NicercyPercico
Summary: 'In our family portrait, we look pretty happy' - Family pictures were all lies,Thalia just had to learn the hard way.


**This story was inspired by the song 'Family Portrait' by Pink. Hope you ejoy it. **

* * *

'_Uh, uh, some deep shit, uh, uh'_

_Momma please stop cryin, I can't stand the sound _

_Your pain is painful and its tearin' me down _

_I hear glasses breakin as I sit up in my bed _

_I told dad you didn't mean those nasty things you said _

In the corner of the room was a curled body of a young girl; with her back pressed against a wall. The bundle of limbs was shaking, you could her the sobs echoing through her small room. Thalia was covering her ears; trying to block out the sound of her parents fighting, her mother's cries of frustration. The young girl somehow heard glass breaking over the shouts from her parents and her own hiccups and gasping cries. The sound like a gun shot over the muffled voices. Thalia was a withering mess, of cries and nonchalant prays of making the raising voices… just… _**STOP!**_ It was tearing the little child apart; she wouldn't be able to stand this much longer! Thalia was used to their fighting after she went upstairs; was used to covering her ears or putting headphones over them for blocking the sound out and pretending they were _**happy**_. She was used to hugging her dad the next time she saw him and telling him that mummy didn't mean those bad words she threw at him.

_You fight about money, bout me and my brother _

_And this I come home to, this is my shelter _

_It ain't easy growin up in World War III _

_Never knowin what love could be, you'll see _

_I don't want love to destroy me like it has done my family_

Thalia heard her name and her brother's; Jason, being thrown into the argument. Her mother saying that one child was expensive but two was overdoing it and that her daddy never helped in any of it. Thalia was sure other families weren't like this. Surely they didn't fight as much as this… did they?

_Can we work it out? Can we be a family? _

_I promise I'll be better, Mommy I'll do anything _

_Can we work it out? Can we be a family? _

_I promise I'll be better, Daddy please don't leave _

After the fight's, Thalia would hear the slamming of doors and her mother's cries. Thalia now, would always smell something strong and yucky on her mum's breath. Thalia's daddy would always leave; sometimes not coming back for long periods of time. But, he couldn't leave and never come back! Thalia needed him! She was scared, especially when her mummy would shake her hard and yell from the top of her lungs. She said it was Thalia's fault that daddy was leaving, that she was a bad, ungrateful demon-child that should be taught a lesson for chasing her daddy away. Thalia would plead with her mum, telling her that she didn't mean to be bad or ungrateful. Thalia didn't _**mean **_to chase her daddy away! She was _**sorry**_! Thalia would do _**anything**_ as long as her daddy came home…

_Daddy please stop yellin, I can't stand the sound_

_Make mama stop cryin, cuz I need you around _

_My mama she loves you, no matter what she says its true _

_I know that she hurts you, but remember I love you, too _

The next time Thalia saw her father was two weeks later. It was a great day, until she went up to bed… then she heard it again. The vicious cycle continued; only this time her dad was the one to yell first and yell louder as her mother began to cry. Thalia soon heard her mum giving snarky comments back to her father. Thalia always told her daddy she loved him, that mummy did love him too. Surly he believed her and wouldn't leave her alone with her mother … would he?

_I ran away today, ran from the noise, ran away _

_Don't wanna go back to that place, but don't have no choice, no way _

_It ain't easy growin up in World War III _

_Never knowin what love could be, well I've seen _

_I don't want love to destroy me like it did my family _

Her mother was a **MONSTER!** She let Jason die! Jason was the only thing that had kept her in that rundown hellhole of a home! Thalia didn't know where she was, her tears kept shooting down her cheeks like a waterfall, her throat **burned**, her arms **hurt**, her legs **ached** from running, Thalia felt like her heart would **explode** from her chest. But that didn't matter, the adrenaline was numbing the pain. Thalia's mind was like a maze, but she kept going and going and going some more….

_Can we work it out? Can we be a family? _

_I promise I'll be better, Mommy I'll do anything _

_Can we work it out? Can we be a family? _

_I promise I'll be better, Daddy please don't leave_

Thalia couldn't believe she ever thought those things; she was so young and stupid back then! Her mother was a drunken waste of space and her father? Oh, she didn't even want to get started on him. Thalia couldn't believe she ever felt sorry for him…

_In our family portrait, we look pretty happy _

_Let's play pretend, let's act like it comes naturally _

_I don't wanna have to split the holidays _

_I don't want two addresses _

_I don't want a step-brother anyways _

_And I don't want my mom to have to change her last name_

Thalia never wanted her parent's to split up, they weren't married but that didn't matter back when she was young. Her mummy and daddy must have loved each other and that was all that mattered, so they couldn't leave. Thalia remembered the pictures back at her old 'home'. Her mother insisted on them, (for the image) and in all the photos she look so happy… they _all_ did…

_In our family portrait we look pretty happy _

_We look pretty normal, let's go back to that _

_In our family portrait we look pretty happy _

_Let's play pretend, act like it goes naturally_

She was good at playing pretend; she did it all the time. Thalia would play the perfect and devoted daughter, the happy child in a happy family and now she would play the girl that didn't need friends or family, the girl who didn't care about anything or anyone.

_In our family portrait we look pretty happy _

_(Can we work it out? Can we be a family?) _

_We look pretty normal, let's go back to that _

_(I promise I'll be better, Mommy I'll do anything)_

Thalia didn't need anyone! She was the daughter of Zeus! The badass who didn't care! It was so easy to say… why couldn't it be as easy for her to believe?

_In our family portrait we look pretty happy _

_(Can we work it out? Can we be a family?) _

_Let's play pretend act and like it comes so naturally _

_(I promise I'll be better, Daddy please don't leave)_

Why did people have family portraits? Or pictures or photos or whatever they called it?! They were all probably faking the smiles and laughs anyway…

_In our family portrait we look pretty happy _

_(Can we work it out? Can we be a family?) _

_We look pretty normal, let's go back to that _

_(I promise I'll be better, Daddy please don't leave)_

If there's one thing Thalia learnt in this cruel world, is that **nothing** is perfect and what it seems.

_Daddy don't leave _

_Daddy don't leave _

_Daddy don't leave _

_Turn around please _

_Remember that the night you left you took my shining star? _

_Daddy don't leave _

_Daddy don't leave _

_Daddy don't leave _

_Don't leave us here alone _

And this all happened because her 'father' Zeus couldn't keep it in his pants! He promised he would never leave her alone and then what does he do? Zeus knew he would leave them. Thalia didn't know why it still stung so much when she thought about it. She was abandoned a long time ago…

_Mom will be nicer _

_I'll be so much better, I'll tell my brother _

_Oh, I won't spill the milk at dinner _

_I'll be so much better, I'll do everything right _

_I'll be your little girl forever _

_I'll go to sleep at night_

Because of him, Thalia didn't have a mother, her brother Jason was dead; never got to experience life! Why should she bow down to him and be grateful? What was there to be happy about? She didn't need anyone, **especially not her father Zeus!** Thalia missed Jason though… she always kept a picture of them together in her jacket pocket. She wondered what it would be like if he was still alive, still with her. Would everything have been different?


End file.
